Nigerian born nurse and university professor, Dr Ann Lawani, has been held by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement for nearly two months following her arrest at her home in Lodi, California, on September 16, 2026.

Her continued detention has sparked calls for her release from family members, students, colleagues, community members and lawmakers. Lawani, 39, is the Statewide ME MSN Programme Director at the University of San Francisco, where she oversees about 230 nursing students.

She also works as a nurse at John Muir Health in the Bay Area.

A practising registered nurse, Lawani holds a PhD in Nursing from the University of San Diego, a Master of Science in Nursing in Clinical Nurse Leadership from the same institution, and a bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration from California State University, Sacramento. She has lived in the United States for about 21 years and in Lodi for about 13 years, where she has served her community for over a decade. In addition to her academic and clinical work, she is a caregiver for her 83 year old father, who has cancer. Colleagues describe her as a dedicated educator who manages partnerships with 38 clinical sites and helps train the next generation of nurses.

Lawani was arrested by ICE agents at her Lodi home on September 16 and initially taken to a detention facility in Stockton, California. She was subsequently transferred through other facilities, including Bakersfield and El Paso, Texas, before being moved to the South Louisiana ICE Processing Centre, where she remains detained. Since her transfer to Louisiana, family members say she did not appear in ICE’s public detainee database, which made it difficult for them to locate her. It took about three days before her relatives learned that she was being held in Louisiana, more than 2,000 miles from her home and family.

Her immigration case dates back to 2007, when she entered the US on a visitor visa and later applied for asylum. The Department of Homeland Security said her asylum application was denied in 2013 and that an immigration judge issued a final order of removal on August 6 of that year.

The department said she overstayed her visitor visa after entering the United States in 2007. It added that she received due process and will remain in ICE custody pending removal from the United States. It also stressed that work authorisation does not confer legal status in the US.

However, her lawyer, Natalia Vieira Santanna, said the same judge also granted Lawani withholding of removal to Nigeria after finding that she was more likely than not to face persecution if returned to the country. Santanna said the ruling prevented the government from removing her client to Nigeria.

She also said Lawani’s work permit remains valid until April 2029. The lawyer filed a habeas corpus petition in the Eastern District of California on September 18, challenging the legality of the detention. A federal judge later barred the government from removing her while the case is pending and ordered the department to explain why she should not be released.

US Representative Josh Harder, Democrat from California, has joined the call for her release, sending a letter to the Department of Homeland Security on October 20. In the letter, Harder argued that the federal government violated an order withholding her removal to Nigeria granted by a federal immigration judge in 2013.

He said Lawani has no criminal history, has maintained federally authorised employment and has complied with immigration requirements. He demanded her immediate return to California and answers about a possible deportation to a third country. State Senator Jerry McNerney and other officials have also expressed support for her release.

At the University of San Francisco, colleagues and students have continued to push for Lawani’s freedom. The Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Professions, Dr Eileen Fry Bowers, launched a petition and a GoFundMe to support her legal and family costs. As of November 11, the GoFundMe had raised more than 50,000 dollars, while a http://Change.org petition calling for her release had gathered more than 15,000 signatures.

As both sides await a ruling on the habeas petition, supporters say the case raises wider questions about immigration detention, legal protection from deportation and the treatment of long serving community members.